Primary Department: County Administration
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Jesse Dickerman, Interim County Administrator
Secondary Department: Management and Budget
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): Choose an item.
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by the Office of County Administration for approval to utilize funds from the Harris County general fund (Fund 1000) to cover ineligible federal grant expenses incurred by the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program in the amount of $4,455,077.47.
end
Background and Discussion:
In January 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department established the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program to
provide funding to state and local governments to assist eligible renter households impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic, funded via the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Additional funding was allocated to the ERA program via the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), and subsequently allocated to state and local governments.
Commissioners Court established the 2021 Houston-Harris County Emergency Rental Assistance Program on February 9, 2021, in collaboration with the City of Houston. The program administrators were BakerRipley, Catholic Charities, and the Alliance. Harris County provided over $154 million in rental assistance to ensure housing stability for more than 33,000 households as part of this program.
Throughout the program’s duration, various ineligible expenses were identified, including duplicative assistance payments with the State of Texas’ ERA program, duplicative assistance with the City of Houston (as part of the joint Houston-Harris County ERA program), and payments made that were ultimately confirmed as fraud. Harris County made extensive efforts to resolve these ineligible expenses. During the length of the Houston-Harris County ERA program, which ended in 2023, we attempted to reallocate these funds to eligible expenses or directly recoup these ineligible expenses. Beginning in 2025, the Harris County Attorney’s Office sent demand letters to landlords who had not yet returned duplicative or otherwise ineligible assistance.
While Harris County has successfully reallocated or recouped a significant amount of ineligible assistance, there is currently an outstanding liability of $4.45 million, which is less than three percent of the total assistance disbursed. The ERA2 grant period of performance ends on September 30, 2025, and the County is required to return funds for ineligible expenses to Treasury.
Expected Impact:
Approval of this request will allow for the expense budget to be set up in Fund 1000, Department 202 to repay Treasury for ineligible expenses in the ERA1 and ERA2 grants. The financial impact to the FY25 general fund is a one-time cost of $4.45 million.
Alternative Options:
No alternative funding sources for the ineligible expenses have been identified. Harris County is required to repay Treasury for ineligible expenses, per the ERA grant agreements.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 6. Help residents achieve housing stability.
County Strategic Plan Objective: V: Reduce eviction and foreclosure rates among residents.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Location:
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Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Existing Budget |
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Total Existing Budget |
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Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$4,455,077.47 |
$4,455,077.47 |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$4,455,077.47 |
$4,455,077.47 |
$ |
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Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$4,455,077.47 |
$4,455,077.47 |
$ |
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Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
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No. of Grant Years |
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Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
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Additional Positions Request |
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Total Personnel |
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Anticipated Court Date: 8/26/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: ARPA related item
Contact(s) name, title, department:
Janet Gonzalez, Director, Technical Assistance & Performance, Office of County Administration
Jennifer Bell, Project Manager, Technical Assistance & Performance, Office of County Administration
Attachments (if applicable): Fiscal Review Request Form